Is Will Smith Taking A Step Back...Starring As A Slave?

Kill Bill director Quentin Tarantino is in talks to produce a Western flick that will star Will Smith. But if Will signs on for the film, he'll be playing a slave. Deets inside....

Quentin Tarantino has been discussing his next project called Django Unchained which will be "(A) western whose lead character is a former slave who is in league with Waltz to save his wife from an evil plantation owner."

And Quentin, who has always expressed his love of Black culture, wants Will Smith to star in the flick. But that means Mr. Smith would appearing as a slave. Would that be a step back for the world's biggest movie star?

Hmmm.....it could be the type of role that causes Will to pull on a set of acting skills we didn't know he had. And it seems like he would still be a hero in the film so...maybe the storyline could work.

Would you go see it?

Also in Will Smith news, he was forced to relocate the movable mansion we told you about, to a vacant lot earlier this week. It seems like most SoHo residents were unimpressed with his big trailer and big ego.

TV/MOVIE BONUS: ATTENTION FELLOW FANGBANGERS! "True Blood" just released its Season 4 promo:

Comments

Heck no, in my opinion, it would be a bad idea. Remember what Tarantino did to Ving Rhames in Pulp Fiction? To this day, I cannot understand why he chose to play that role. Don't do it Will, just walk away!!!!

I think this is an excellent choice for Will Smith & so not taking a "step back". Tarintino does excellent work & will not carry the film out to perfection. I know this will be a blockbuster, look at Inglorious Bastards, Kill Bill vol. 1 & 2, and so forth

I don't see how that would set him back. It's called acting, and a character is a character. Showing your range is a good thing.
Besides, he'll be an EX-Slave, hero-type, à la Nat Turner :)
The rebellious side of the (ex)slave should be showcased more anyhow. History tends to leave out the parts where we fought back (and we did...several times).
Any way, it sounds better than his last attempt at a "western" (Wild Wild West, anyone?)

Oh gosh, I knew everybody was gonna be going the hell off in the comments.
First off, I don't see how in the hell anybody could be taking a step back by playing anything. Some black actors can't even land a job these days(without self producing the film and casting themselves) let alone score a lead role that explores a time period long forgotten(the slave trade) while still be deemed the hero.
and like YBF said, this could finally be our chance to see Will display a solid set of acting skills we didn't know he had!

Oh gosh, I knew everybody was gonna be going the hell off in the comments.
First off, I don't see how in the hell anybody could be taking a step back by playing anything. Some black actors can't even land a job these days(without self producing the film and casting themselves) let alone score a lead role that explores a time period long forgotten(the slave trade) while still be deemed the hero.
and like YBF said, this could finally be our chance to see Will display a solid set of acting skills we didn't know he had!

YBF (Natasha), your site is falling off faster and faster. What has been up with you all posing these asinine questions and snide remarks? You all have now bridged with MTO! What kind of question is that to ask? He's an actor who's suppose to step outside the box, and without you all having further information, what would make you think he's taking a step back? Is it a step back for a Michael Bay directed actor to work with an unknown director in an independent film? Natasha, return back to your old format, back when you and Concrete Loop were both the positive popular black gossip sites, had a staff that could spell check, and didn't make post headlines simply for the hits!

WELL IT'S a step back for someone......
'Speaking of its blaxploitation influences… regarding the lead female character in this, named Broomhilda, Django’s slave wife, whom he’s separated from, and seeks. She’s the lead female in the film, but her part is limited to really just physicalities. She has the most screen time of any other woman in the film, which is why I call her the lead female character, but, really, there’s no Shosanna in this one, as there was in Inglorious Basterds. The black female “lead” here doesn’t get the same kind of dignified treatment that Tarantino gave Shosanna. Not even close. Yes, I know it’s a different time altogether, but, I’m sure he could have afforded Broomhilda some complexities, and maybe even made her a heroine in her own right.
There are some 4 or 5 scenes in which the she’s, shall we say, “exposed”… i.e. naked; and they felt gratuitous to me; 2 in which she’s raped by white men. When we first meet her, she’s on the auction block and asked to bare her breasts to potential buyers; later, she’s chased through a hotel, through hallways, and lobbies, etc, by a slave master, completely naked, after being woken up from sleep, with a whip across her naked body; and still later, she’s locked up naked in a steel box as punishment for trying to run away. Yes, I’m sure these are all scenarios that very well likely could have played out at the time; however, Tarantino could have opted to depict her in another light altogether, but instead chose this less flattering, exploitative one. If the intent here is to elicit sympathy for her, and, in turn, ensure that we hate her captors even more, justifying their eventual comeuppance, it certainly doesn’t. Not for me anyway, as someone who’s already familiar with the atrocities of slavery, and didn’t feel like I needed to see a character that’s really the female lead in the film, essentially exhibited almost like Saartje Baartman (aka the Hottentot Venus) was. I’m betting Tarantino will likely get a well-endowed black actress to play the part, not-so unlike, as I already made comparisons to, the blaxploitation films of the 70s, the most famous female face (and body) of the era, Pam Grier.
Who exactly will take this particular role, I don’t know. It’s not the most glamorous, nor complex. Although, I’m sure there are a lot of actresses who’d gladly sign up for it.'
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/archives/ive_read_tarantinos_dja...

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Yeah its a step back, Blacks are still suffering from slavery and I dont want to see a strong black male ever in that role agai. This role will bring up deep phychologocal undertones that we as a people still havent gotten over

PLEASE!SLAVERY IS THE LEAST OF BLACK PEOPLE PROBLEMS,WE NEED TO GET BACK TO OUR ROOTS,BLACK PEOPLE HAVE SO MUCH SELF HATE. YES SLAVERY DID HAPPEN,BLACK PEOPLE ARE IN DENIAL..BLACK TEENS NEED TO SEE THIS.

Is YBF taking a step back asking such a silly question?? It clearly states in your post that the role is that of a FORMER slave, meaning he is no longer a slave. Is a white actress taking a step back playing a Victorian-era woman who didn't have the right to vote? Was Samuel L Jackson taking a step back playing a murdering gangster in Pulp Fiction? Was Ben Vereen taking a step backwards playing Chicken George in Roots? I'm sure you're pleased that this post got so many hits and comments, but I'm glad to see that many of your readers agree that it's a ridiculous question.
Can't wait for the return of True Blood!

That's my question.. Any role he plays be it a slave, caddy, crackhead etc... how would any of it be a step back as long as he's in a lead role... BS.. A step back in his world is if he were to be a supporting actor to some no name or B list actor.. not the character he plays.. SMDH @ Tasha

No way do I think this is a step backwards. Actors should be able to play various roles in their career. Slavery happened so it's not wrong for him to play one. I think he'd do excellent. Will, to me, is a great actor, so why not.
Yes, I would go see it!

It's not a big deal. It's a Movie and he's an ACTOR!!! I'm sure he's smart enough to know if it's a step back or not. Let's not forget the brother NEVER went to acting school. He has a natural talent and people with natural talent can play ANY role. Many black actors before him have played slaves. What's the big deal when Will Smith wants to play one? Will is an excellent actor and Quintin is an excellent director/movie maker..This role may just win both of them an Oscar!!! I'd go see it! #justmy2centsworth:)

We all know slavery was an atrocity that should have never happened. Why does QT want to make this movie I think the white establishment likes to see black actors protraying demeaning subservant roles. To get a black A-List actor like Will Smith to protray this role would be a coo for them. If he gets beat down, crys and begs master on que they will probably give him an Oscar. I dont want to see it.

No one said the role would be demeaning or subservient. It says that he would play a FORMER slave, so I doubt there would be scenes of him getting beat, crying and begging the master... -__- You're thinking of those slave stereotypes that have been pounded into our minds to make us feel embarrassed of our history.

IT WILL ONLY BE A STEP BACK IF THE MOVIE DOESNT SHED MORE LIGHT INTO THE REAL PROBLEMS THAT SLAVERY CAUSED AND HOW IT IS STILL ALIVE AND BREATHING IN AMERIKKKA TODAY, IF THE SCRIPT DOESNT SHOW THE TRUTH AND THE AFTER EFFECTS THAT IT CAUSED THEN IT A STEP BACK....

Are you for real?, you don't know what a step back means : to go backward in the opposite direction. Hmmmm she could have been refering that African Americans have historically played subserviant and belittling roles that have transformed into ignorance and steretying such as slave.
Think next time